Love to Bear: A Werebear Shifter Romance (12 page)

I leaned in, resting my furry head against the tree's
bark. It scratched me lightly – a welcome distraction as the
hunter shook his head and turned away from me. He'd decided that
there was nothing there after all.

Human senses. How limited. I only hope Sam stays on
her toes and doesn't let anyone in the clan surprise her.

My giant body warmed with rage. I thought about Emmerick
and the rest of the council. I didn't trust anyone as far as I could
smell them.

The hunter dragged his carcass behind him and retreated
back the way he came, leaving me to stew quietly in the silent forest
with my anger.

The sky behind the mountains dimmed. Somewhere behind
the tall, frosted mountains, the sun was setting, and that meant Sam
would return to my cabin soon.

It also signaled the end of my evening patrol. I turned,
and let the bear relieve some of its bloodlust. My paws shot out,
tearing at a rotted stump. Soft wood turned into splinters.

I walked on, licking my lips. My stomach growled
painfully. I was hungry, and the pangs only grew as I passed through
the barely visible daytime ether.

I was a man again, sighing as the cool wind caressed my
naked skin. In the distance, something delicious was cooking.
Probably others settling around their evening fires with good food
for the night.

Too bad my human form barely deadened my sense of smell.
The delicious scents blowing through the forest tormented me all the
way home.

I looked up in surprise, practically drooling. Smoke was
coming out of my chimney. Whatever was roasting inside, it smelled
damn good!

“
Mmmph.” The growl escaped my throat, low
and guttural. “Fuck me senseless, Sam. I didn't know you could
cook like this.”

She shrugged her shoulders. My heart tingled. For a
human woman, Sam was cute in every sense of the word.

“
Wasn't much else to do in Sioux Falls growing up.
My mother taught me how to measure and bake before I was ten.
Sometimes making dinner was the only time we spent together before
she had to jet away to another company conference. Even won some of
the little cooking contests during those long summers in High
School.”

“
I believe it,” I said enthusiastically.
Then I shoved another piece of the richly marinated meat into my
mouth. I loved how the buttery taste gave way to fuller spices, a
delicious bomb crackling across my whole tongue.

“
It's all I really feel I'm good at. Maybe I
should've gone to culinary school.” She stared at the puzzled
look on my face. I didn't have a clue what human schools were like or
how they were structured.

“
We learn everything from our Elders here. Not
that there have been a lot of cubs to teach around here for a long
time. I was in the last group...” I ended it there. Thinking
about Emmerick and the way he'd let our numbers fall sent hot rage
fuming through my system.

“
Yes. The Baby Boom of '73. I read all about it
today.” She pivoted steak and asparagus on her fork, eyeing it
for a second before she drove it firmly into her mouth. “What I
don't understand is why no one made the connection. And what happened
to Clara Flood? The last woman to live here?”

My fork hit my plate. Sam blinked in surprise, and
tensed up, frightened that she'd upset me.

In a way, she had. But I wasn't angry at her.

“
It's okay. I don't blame you for asking.” I
blotted my lips with a napkin, choosing my words. “She died one
winter. Some kind of fever. I barely remember my mother...and I
certainly didn't know until now that she was the last human woman in
Horseshoe Creek.”

“
Sorry. I don't mean to dig into anything
uncomfortable.” She pursed her lips, slowly relaxing them when
I shook my head, showing her it was okay. “I just wondered. I
know your father Patton died sometime before her too.”

“
It's okay. Really. You're wondering who took me
in?” I watched her nod. “It was Clarence, Elder
Franklin's brother. He treated me like the father I never knew, and I
still miss him.”

“
What happened?”

“
Wounded in battle with a grizzly that came into
our camp.” I watched Sam tilt her head. “A real bear, I
mean. We let our few guns run out of ammo in the old winters. People
had to fight them off by hand, and just because we're a lot smarter
doesn't always mean we're equally matched for those monsters.”

“
I understand.” Her eyes were big and heavy
with sadness.

“
Emmerick was like the clan's doctor at the time.
He tried to save Clarence, but...there was nothing to be done. The
cuts and bites were too deep.”

I looked up from my food and studied her face. I could
see the wheels turning in her head.

“
I know what you're thinking. That's not the start
of my bad blood with him.” I sighed, shaking my head. “Truth
is, Emmerick's always been a first class asshole. They used to say
folks are supposed to get wiser with their years. But with Emmerick,
even though he was appointed an Elder, it seems like he just got
meaner.”

“
Tell me about it. He practically tore into me
today for failing to fill him in on tasers. He expected me to know
the voltage, where the clan could get one...everything. Like, what
the hell? I'm not a weapon expert.” Sam chewed her lip, clearly
irritated.

“
He's just toying with you. It's his way.” I
sipped my tea. “He wants to get under your skin. Make you feel
weak, uncertain, all the better to give him control over you. Hell,
it's half the reason the rest of the Elders put up with his bullshit
and throw him these compromises in the first place.”

“
I wish it were easier to prove what he's doing.
It's just that in the early days, things were so mixed. I can barely
tell the humans and the shifters apart. Your clan was constantly
bringing in outsiders, and sometimes mingling among them. Baby booms
every thirty years or so! You could have cousins in the outside
world, you know.”

That made my eyebrows go up. Our community had always
been insular, a fortress on high alert, always under siege.

Most days, we thought we were the only shifters in the
world. Just the idea that the reality might be something very
different sent tense energy up my spine.

Oh, spirits. What the hell happened? What changed?

I didn't know. But I had a feeling Emmerick did. And
maybe some of the other Elders too.

“
If they're out there, I can't imagine they know
how to shift. They would've been caught by now if they did.”

“
Maybe so,” Sam said. “Or maybe
they've found other ways to hide. You guys are protected here, thanks
to that ether, but there are other ways to keep secrets this big.”

“
Speaking of hiding secrets, I have a feeling
we're not going to get what we're looking for in those damned
archives.”

“
Why?” Sam leaned across the table, her eyes
as beautiful as open seas, staring into mine curiously.

“
Emmerick was in charge of all those files for
years before you came. Think about it. If there was anything damning
there, it's probably gone now. Something in all this doesn't add up.”

She wilted. I reached for her small hands, cupped them
in mine, and squeezed. I just wanted to comfort her, even though
there was nothing remotely easy or comforting about the situation.

“
We'll figure this out. Tomorrow, I'm going to see
Franklin. Privately. If I can get the old man to tell me something
out of respect for his brother, then maybe we'll get to the bottom of
this.”

“
You think?” Hope sprang in her voice.

My heart already felt several pounds lighter. “Yes.
And I know one thing: I'm not giving up. The minute I brought you
into this cabin, I knew I'd never quit. I don't care what it takes,
Sam, or who I have to fight. I'll brush everything aside to be with
you.”

It was a good thing we'd nearly finished our dinner. A
minute after the words were out of my mouth, she sauntered to my
side, and sat on my lap. We kissed, lighting our evening fire to a
comfortable roar.

“
Yes?” Franklin poked his head out into the
cold.

His eyes looked glazed and tired behind his spectacles,
like I'd just woken him from a long nap. The Elders sure slept a lot
when they weren't holding their meetings. I wondered if I'd do the
same if I made it to their age.

“
Sorry to bother you, Elder. Can I have a moment
of your time?”

Franklin's eyes narrowed cautiously. He hesitated, but
then cracked the door open, waving me inside.

“
Of course, boy. What's brought you by?”

Boy. He still thinks of me like a nephew. Maybe I can
use that to my advantage...

“
Sam's research. Some of what she's found in the
old records doesn't jive with our policies. I know you're not a big
fan of Emmerick.” I paused, watching Franklin's face tighten.
“Do you think he's been pulling the wool over our eyes?”

“
It wouldn't be prudent to discuss my private
feelings about a fellow councilman. Nor should you show such
disrespect to an Elder.”

I fought the urge to say something infinitely more
disrespectful about Emmerick.

“
It's not all about what I think or feel,” I
said, stepping closer to him across the neat wooden floor.
“Emmerick's policies may be harming the entire clan. Especially
the firm line against all outsiders...”

Franklin tilted his head, eyeing me more warily than
before. “What are you getting at, lad?”

Damn it. He's not going to come out and talk about it
unless I make him.

“
Our closed, completely walled off society, for
one thing. The records indicate humans and shifters used to have
plenty of interactions. You talk about it all the time at your
council meetings.”

“
That's true,” he said quietly. “But
their world has changed tremendously in the past century. I don't
need to tell you...you've been scouting since you were in your
twenties. And Kalispell is just one little town – there's a
whole world out there with human marvels we couldn't hope to
understand. Nor would we want to.”

“
I'm not talking about their machines, Elder.”
I paused, ensuring his eyes met mine and held. “It's our
numbers. Sam thinks we're not having babies anymore because we need
human mates to do it.”

Franklin slammed his cane angrily into the ground. He
turned away from me, and let out the heaviest sigh I'd ever heard.
Just on the human side of a bear's growl.

“
You've said your piece. I will consider it,”
he said firmly. “Now, please go. Leave me in peace. This cold
makes me very tired.”

“
There's more to this isn't there?” I
reached out, clasping his shoulder in rigid fingers. “Why won't
you tell me? Can't you do it for Clarence?”

Franklin whirled. His lips drew back angrily, equal
parts frustration and sadness.

“
Don't you dare use my dear brother's memory to
bribe me. I know you won't believe me, but councilman Emmerick is
right. If you weren't so taken with this human girl and gave him a
little more credit, you'd realize that.”

“
Realize
what?
”
I snorted. “It seems to me there are a lot of things I never
realized here, and nobody cares to fill me in. What about the fact
that my mother was the last human in Horseshoe Creek?”

“
Clarence should have told you. I wanted him to
before he died.” Franklin sucked in a loud, thick breath.

I saw the glassy melancholy stewing in his eyes and
relaxed a little. He still cared – even though he was just as
prone to lies and secrecy as the rest of the Elders.

“
Clara was the last one we allowed in – the
last one we allowed to mate with one of us – and for a very
good reason.” Franklin watched me try to speak, and then stop.
I'd lost my words in waiting. “Having you is what killed her.”

Fuck. Now I know he's covering something up.

The slow burning fuse inside me hit its dynamite rod and
exploded. “Tell me the truth, old man! What the hell are you
talking about?”

I lunged forward, gripping his oversized cloak.
Franklin's eyes glowed, big and gold behind his spectacles, the same
animal energy a man brimmed with before he released his bear.

I loosened my grip, but only a little to keep his feet
from leaving the floor. I didn't want to fight him, but I was more
than a match. Youth and regular exercise had their benefits.

“
Don't you get it, boy?” Franklin's voice
was low, hoarse. “Yes, we had all sorts of dealings with humans
in the past. Some of our descendents are probably out there now,
ignorant of their ancestry, except for that horrible ache to taste
blood, to hunt, and to turn when they get angry.”

“
I don't care,” I said.

“
But you need to. Clara died because her body
wasn't meant to carry a shifter child. Neither were the other women
who mated with our males in the old times. And the men who loved our
females...don't get me started. I remember it well...her fever came,
and then the headache like fire. Emmerick and another man –
Rudy, I think – saw to her as best they could. But the stroke,
the aneurism was too much. So was the heartbreak of losing your
father.”